Appearance: The body is silvery with many dark splotches. The fins are also heavily speckled with black and white. It also normally has 7 or 8 spines in its dorsal (back) fin, whereas its cousin, the white crappie, has just 6. It can grow up to 19 inches in length.

Interesting fact: The black crappie is also known, in some circles, as the speckled perch, though the common yellow perch is in another completely different family of fishes.

Habitat: Reservoirs and embayments.

References:

Etnier, David A. and Wayne C. Starnes. 1993. The Fishes of Tennessee. University of Tennessee Press. Knoxville, Tennessee.